Gryffindor's Fountain
by MarielleAster
Summary: Harry looked at her face. The setting of the sun made her seem more fiery than ever. Written for 7th HP/GW fic-a-fest wave


**A/N:** Written for the 7th wave of the HP/GW fic-a-fest community over on LiveJournal. The challenge was...

_June 2008 - 10 years after Harry's defeat of Voldemort; London, Trafalgar Square; A fountain_

...and this is what I came up with. Although...I may have changed June to May (because uhm...that's canon with DH?) and uhm...I may have forgotten that Hannah is the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron and not the Three Broomsticks...

But still, I quite like how it turned out and I owe KD and LD a huge thank you for their comments and suggestions and mostly, fixing my grammatical mistakes.

...and James is absolutely wickedly cool!

* * *

**Gryffindor's Fountain**

A swish of cool air caressed Ginny's face, making a smile appear around her lips. Without any hesitation she caught the Quaffle Julie had thrown her and was off towards Wood. She really had to score this one.

She knew that Tammy was distracting Isobel Buch, the Cannons' Seeker, long enough to let this goal happen. Just ten points, that was all they needed, then Tammy could catch the Snitch and they'd win…

Then, another rush of air told her that one of the Cannons' Chasers was following her…fast.

Her upper body bent low over her broom, she sped up too. Up she went, and then down quickly…hoping to shake him off…Tammy was speeding down, quickly followed by Buch…faster Ginny went, still unable to get rid of the Chaser…

Suddenly Gwenog appeared in front of her, hitting a Bludger fast towards her…quickly, Ginny ducked and heard a dull 'thunk' that told her Gwenog once again hadn't missed. But there was no time…Tammy was getting closer to the Snitch and even though she didn't let herself be overtaken by Buch, Ginny didn't want to take any chances.

Closer to Wood she came, the Quaffle still in her hand…it was only a matter of seconds…A soft kick came to her stomach…but that was impossible! Gwenog and Meredith were keeping the Bludgers at bay…it was only her and Wood…

Confused, she looked down.

The Quaffle fell out of her hands towards the ground as she saw the large bulge that used to be her stomach.

When did she get pregnant?

And why was she under the covers and not on her broom?

And why in the name of Merlin's soggy grey beard was something picking her arm?

Groggy from the fact that Quidditch had been everything but a dream, Ginny opened her eyes and looked straight into the eyes of an apparently very angry owl.

"Harry…" she sighed, knowing fully well that it would take much more than that to wake him up. "Can you get some coins for the _Prophet_?"

No reaction.

Wanting nothing more than to not be pregnant, and up in the air, Ginny lifted her arm, determined to hit Harry as hard as possible.

Which she would have done quite efficiently…had Harry been there…

Frustrated by the fact that her day was turning out to be far worse than she'd first anticipated it to be, Ginny dragged herself onto Harry's side of the bed and rummaged in the nightstand's drawer for some spare Knuts.

"Happy now?" she sighed, dropping the coins in the owl's pouch. It hooted once, dropped the _Prophet_ and took off through the window.

Deciding that she really couldn't be bothered to do anything, she threw on the first clothes she could find that actually fit and walked out of the bedroom. Were it not for the fact that she absolutely loved having another child, she would have given up on this pregnancy thing ages ago.

Walking into the hallway, she noticed the eerie quietness…no James running around the kitchen, boasting about his plans for the day, while Harry tried to get him to have some breakfast. Quietly, Ginny opened Al's door. He was breathing softly…sleeping soundly for the first time since he got that cold a week ago. She closed the door before she'd wake him up and went to James' room. She hadn't even opened the door when "Mum? Is it breakfast time?" reached her ears.

Ginny couldn't help but smile, "Yes," she answered, helping James get out of bed.

"Can I have Dad's fry-up?"

Ginny cringed at the mere thought. "I don't think Dad's home, baby."

James' face darkened. "Al's the baby, not me."

"And he's sleeping, so keep it quiet when we go downstairs," Ginny answered, taking some clean clothes out of a drawer. Dutifully, James removed his pyjamas to let his mother dress him and then followed her downstairs.

"Can I fly?" James asked while Ginny started preparing some toast.

"Eat your toast, James." Ginny put a plate in front of him. "And no."

"Dad would've gone flying," James said accusatorily with a mouth full of toast.

"Don't speak with your mouth full. And Dad isn't here, is he?" Ginny turned back to the stove and put the kettle on. Harry could tell her as often as he wanted that coffee wasn't good for the baby…she hadn't given up on it during James' and Al's pregnancies and she certainly wasn't going to stop now. They'd turned out fine.

"When's the baby going to come out of your tummy, Mum?" James had lost interest in his toast once more.

"When the time is ready. Now, take another bite of your toast."

A swishing sound not unlike the one from her dream sounded as the flames in the fireplace turned bright green…and distracted James once more. "Mum, the Floo, the Floo, the Floo!"

"Your toast," was all Ginny said as she turned away from James to the fireplace. Maybe it was Harry…

"Oh hello Ginny!" Kingsley sounded almost surprised to find her here. "Seen Harry anywhere?"

"He's not in?" Ginny asked suspiciously. "Not out on a mission?" Why didn't he leave a note if he wasn't going to go to work today?

Kingsley shook his head. "How's the baby coming along?"

"Heavy," Ginny smiled.

"How's James?"

"Mum doesn't let me play Quidditch!" James shouted from the table.

"James, Al's sleeping, remember. And eat your toast."

"I wanted a fry-up…" James sulked.

Kingsley laughed. "Still feeling nauseous?"

"You're funny…" Ginny sighed.

"Well…if you happen to hear anything from Harry…"

"I'll let you know." And with another swoosh; Kingsley disappeared.

"Mum…is Dad not catching bad wizards?"

"I don't know James, how's that toast coming along?"

Very proud of himself, James lifted his empty plate to his mother.

"Well done, little man!" Ginny smiled, looking around for the _Prophet_ that she was certain to have taken with her downstairs. "James, have you seen the _Prophet_ Mum took down with her?"

Not even taking time to answer her, James stood up from the table and ran to the stairs…only to come back, holding the _Prophet_ in his hands. But when he offered it to his mother, she didn't even look at it. A horrified expression had settled itself on her face, making her mouth form the words "It's been ten years…" and her hand shoot up to her face.

"What's been ten years, Mum? What?"

Ginny looked at her son. "I think Dad took off and doesn't want to be found…"

"I can help you look for him!" James immediately said a little too eagerly.

Ginny had to keep herself from bursting out laughing. If she started now, she would never be taken seriously by either one of her sons. So she bit her lip and answered, "Can you now?"

James nodded eagerly. "Dad likes Quidditch. He'll be in Deegon Alley…"

"Di-a-gon Alley."

"…yes, that one. Where they sell brooms. Or the ice cream shop."

"And you'll help me look for him there," Ginny nodded, an idea forming in her head.

"Yeah!"

"Yes."

"Mu-hum!"

"Alright then," Ginny nodded. "We'll just have to hop by Nan to drop Al off, OK?"

The look on James' face faltered so quickly that it took Ginny even more willpower to not burst out laughing once again.

"Is Al going to stay with Nan and Gramps today?" James asked quietly.

"Well yes, he's been a bit ill, hasn't he? I reckon Nan will take more than good care of him, don't you?"

"Does Nan have biscuits? And will Rose be there? And Victor?"

"Victoire…and yes, they probably will. As well as Dominique, Fred, Molly, Lucy and baby Hugo. And your aunts and uncles…it _is_ Victoire's birthday."

"Dad already has a broom," James nodded as seriously as he could, completely ignoring the fact that a birthday meant a tea party. And that a tea party meant a birthday cake.

"That he does."

"And I can't have one, can I?" although he obviously knew the answer, hope was written all over him.

"No, you can't," Ginny answered.

"And Victoire will have presents and cake and ice cream too, right Mum?"

"I think so, yes," Ginny nodded, satisfied at how this was going.

James looked at his mother. "Can I go to Nan's too?"

"Yes," Ginny couldn't help but smile.

James' eyes lit up immediately. "Can I wake up Al?"

* * *

Travelling by Floo powder was tricky enough when pregnant…travelling by Floo powder with an incredibly drowsy Al, hanging around her neck and an impatient James, tugging at her hand made everything ten times worse.

"Ginny! You're pregnant!" was the first thing she heard when the whirlwind that was the fire eased down a bit. James pulled her out of the fireplace into the Burrow's kitchen, where Hermione was sitting down with tiny Hugo.

"I hadn't realised that yet," Ginny replied to her friend's remark. "James, can you go and find Nan?"

James didn't need to be told twice. Who knew what secrets this house held? If you were to believe Uncle George, there was at least a dragon sleeping in the attic…

"Really Ginny, you shouldn't be travelling with two children when you're so far along," Hermione sighed.

"I have done this before, you know." Ginny pointed at Al, who had fallen asleep on her arm. "Harry's missing."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed, "Surely he's at work. I think Ron mentioned something about a mission a few days ago…"

"It's Victoire's birthday."

Hermione's mouth formed an 'oh', but no sound escaped it.

"James reckons he's at the Quidditch shop in Diagon Alley," Ginny smiled, "I haven't got a clue."

Hermione changed Hugo to her other arm, rocking him softly to get him to sleep.

"And I really, really want to get out there again to play Quidditch."

Hermione gave one look at Ginny's pregnant stomach.

"I know!" Ginny said, irritated. "I know." She sighed deeply. "Any ideas?"

"About Harry? No…about you wanting to play Quidditch? You're mad…and drink far too much coffee."

Ginny sighed once more and looked at Albus. McGonagall, Hagrid or Neville would have told her if Harry had been at Hogwarts. Tom would have told her if he'd appeared somewhere in Diagon Alley, Aberforth or Hannah would have done the same for Hogsmeade…so it could only be…

"…somewhere Muggle."

"Gin?"

"Ginny," Ginny corrected her automatically as she conjured a little cot to lay Al in. "Can you keep an eye on him? I have to go."

But no matter how certain she was Harry had escaped the wizarding world, the Muggle world was quite a bit bigger than the wizarding one. And soon she found herself sitting at the bar of the Three Broomsticks, listening to Hannah reassuring her that, no, Harry had most definitely not been around Hogsmeade or Hogwarts and that she should really go home and take some rest or the baby might be born prematurely. Ginny didn't dare to answer, in case she said something stupid like not caring if the baby was born today because then at least she wouldn't be pregnant anymore…so she drank the last bit of tea and walked back to the fireplace, thanking Hannah for her help.

George wasn't even surprised when she showed up in the shop.

"Ron told me," was all he said as he conjured a cup of tea for her. Ginny raised her eyebrow in question.

"Hermione told Ron, of course…shouldn't you be worrying about those two little rascals you call children, eating far too much candy at Victoire's party? I hear Bill's got something big planned…"

Ginny snorted, "Hark who's talking."

Both went silent until Ginny broke it by saying softly, "I can't believe it's been ten years…"

"It seems like yesterday," George nodded. And then, it dawned on Ginny that while she'd lost her brother, George had lost a part of him that day.

Silence settled between them and soon, Ginny was fiddling with her cup, just to have something else to do than to face George…

"I'm going to the Burrow," George announced suddenly. "It's not as if people expect us to be open on a day like this…" Ginny felt his eyes on her. "Come with me, Gin. Harry'll show up eventually…"

Ginny looked up at him and decided that it maybe _was_ time for her to take it easy and stop running after Harry.

* * *

"Mum, Mum, Mum!" James came running towards her as she stepped into the Burrow's garden. "Uncle Bill and Auntie Phlegm…" Ginny couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up. Next to her, George snorted and then quickly went in search of the birthday girl when Ginny's furious gaze met his eyes. James hadn't noticed any of this and continued enthusiastically, "…made a fountain for the birthday tea! Filled with candies and I put them on my cake!"

"A fountain with candies?" Ginny asked, more directed to her mother than her son, but it was the latter who continued once again, "Yeah!"

"Yes."

"…just like the one Dad took us to. Gryffindor's fountain!"

"I didn't know Godric Gryffindor had a fountain…" Ginny smiled.

"Yes you do! The one with the lion! Mu-hum! Dad took us for ice creams and then to Gryffindor's fountain! You said I came up with a better name than Al!"

Regarding the fact that Al still had quite some trouble speaking, Ginny thought it'd been quite sensible for her to have sided with James.

"Gryffindor's fountain."

"Uncle Ron liked the name too and told me we could go swim…" James looked up at his mother as if he'd said too much, but Ginny wasn't paying attention…

"Gryffindor's fountain…"

"Mum?" came James' small voice, shaking her out of her reverie. She bent down, pressed a kiss on his head and told him to be nice to his grandparents during supper and make sure Al ate OK. And with that she disappeared into the kitchen again, followed by a curious James who was just in time to see his mother disappear in a whirlwind of green flames as an echo of "The Leaky Cauldron" sounded against the vast amount of pots and pans gathered on the table.

She didn't bother to say 'hello' to Tom, but walked straight out onto Charing Cross Road. As she walked down that road, she almost forgot that she was pregnant and should maybe take it easy instead of scaring everybody with the pace she was going.

She did not care one bit.

"Gryffindor's fountain?!?" was all she said as she sat down next to Harry, not really caring that some of the water was splashing on her.

A wry smile appeared on Harry's face, but he didn't look at her. And she didn't know what to say. For some reason, she couldn't stop thinking about Quidditch and how much she wanted to be back in the air…she doubted it would be appropriate to start talking Quidditch at a time like this, but then again, Harry often didn't really care if things were appropriate or not.

And she really, really, really wanted to play Quidditch…

"I want to play Quidditch." There. She'd said it. And right now, Harry was looking at her as if he hadn't heard it correctly.

"Pardon?"

"I want to play Quidditch," Ginny repeated, looking him square in the eyes. At this moment, those particular eyes were travelling to her rather protruding stomach and back up to her face.

"You want to play Quidditch?"

"Yes."

"You know you can't, right?" Harry's eyes once again went down to the very distinctive bulge that was Ginny's body.

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Why not?"

"Because that there is very soon to be my third child, and I'd rather like it to see the first light in perfect health." Harry prepared himself for the blow to come, but everything stayed quiet. "When the baby's born and you feel well enough to go on a broom, I will take you out for a game."

Ginny looked at a rare pigeon, landing on the square.

"I don't think I want to play Quidditch then," she said softly when the pigeon flew up again.

Harry looked at her face. The setting of the sun made her seem more fiery than ever.

"Quidditch makes me forget."

Silence settled over them just as the sun settled behind the buildings.

"I'd rather like a game of Quidditch too," Harry finally admitted.

"But I can't," Ginny nodded.

"No," Harry shook his head.

"'Cause I'm pregnant."

"Quite obviously so."

"It's not the obvious thing that brought you here today, is it?" Ginny asked softly, taking his hand in hers. "It's not because it's been ten years, is it?"

"I'm head of the Auror Department…"

"You're joking!" Ginny blurted before she could help herself.

A smile appeared on Harry's face and he turned to look at her. "Actually, I'm quite certain I'm not…they're planning to announce it this evening."

"Kingsley?"

Harry nodded.

"Wow."

Harry nodded again as Ginny noticed the evening star starting to appear in the sky.

"Have I ever told you that I love you?" Harry asked.

"I think you have," Ginny smiled back at him, her free hand resting on her stomach. "Why?"

"You're not asking me to go to the ceremony."

Ginny shrugged. "It's not about the ceremony. It's about what happened ten years ago. Who knows, Kingsley might have planned it on this evening exactly because it would give you a valid excuse not to attend it."

At this, Harry started to laugh. Soon, Ginny was joining in; imagining the look on people's faces when they found out that Harry would not be showing up.

"I hope we have a girl," Harry smiled at her after calming down a bit. "And I absolutely wish that she has your spirit."


End file.
